Ignorance Can No Longer Be an Excuse!

At what point is "I didn't know what to do" stops being a viable excuse?

By now we all have seen, heard, or watched the infamous Oscar's flub. In that glaring fuck up, I was able to see a valuable lesson. I posted on Facebook the following statement: "Warren Beatty apparently had the Best Lead Actress envelope. When he opened it he knew it was the wrong one but instead of speaking up he got scared and handed the envelope to Faye Dunaway. He had the chance to say "Wait. I have the wrong envelope." But nope he didn't. See what happens when you are complacent and don't speak up!"

After watching the clip, you can see that Beatty clearly knew something wasn't right. Yet he opted not to do anything. Not to use his voice and speak up. In that moment, he and quite possibly the person who gave him the wrong envelope, were the only people who knew something was not right. He had two choices -- speak up or go with the flow.

What are you gonna say?

When one sits back quietly and lets things happen when they have the powerful opportunity to speak up, you may be hurting yourself or others around you. When one stays silence, you may think you are doing a good thing by not stirring up conflict or controversy. However you are doing quiet the opposite. Your choice to stay quiet is a stamp of approval of what is happening around you.

Imagine for one moment you were faced with the choice of speaking out or letting the status quo continue. What are you going to choose? It can be frightening to speak out, but just pause for a moment and reconnect yourself with your purpose. True confidence flows from a strong sense of purpose. To be confident, you must be honest, with yourself and with others.

My hope is that people feel empowered to use your voice when things in your environment are not right. Don't feel compelled to go along with the flow. You never know who else feels the same way you do but they themselves are afraid of taking action. In today's world not knowing what to do anymore isn't an acceptable excuse anymore. You have a powerful tool called a voice -- USE IT MY FRIEND!